The Two Sisters
by Sapphire Warrioress
Summary: The eldest sister fought to restore her nation, renewing for a moment a hope many had thought dead. The youngest, sacrificed her humanity for the sake of a knowledge which would lead to the ultimate destruction of an empire.


Disclaimer: Narnia, and its various characters and stories, belong to C S Lewis.

At the dawn of creation, it was conceived out of darkness. Woven out of the forbidden thoughts and passions of men, it lay sleeping at the heart of the empire which was to be named Charn.

Shaped over the centuries like the most intricate of sculptures, it became a word which could never be uttered in the tongues of man or beast.

It made its presence known in a thousand subtle ways, allowing a faint echo of its power to be heard within the thoughts of those it deemed worthy to give voice to its hunger for destruction and death.

Always those of royal blood were chosen, rulers who held within their essence the power and will to give the word form.

The first monarchs of Charn it ignored, for they did not demonstrate that unique combination of determination, cruelty and callous indifference to suffering which a speaker must possess. Nor did any of the ancient kings succumb to the siren call of darkness, to the extent that it would be able to flourish within their empire.

Only one king aroused its interest. A sadistic and cunning ruler, he affectively silenced the whispers of rebellion throughout the realm by poisoning its leaders at a feast given in their honour.

And so it waited, knowing that there would come a time when one would be born with a hunger to match its own.

And at last its patience was rewarded. Into the royal family of Charn were born two daughters. The eldest was given the name of Aria, which in the tongue of Adam's race meant lioness. The younger bore a name as strange and dark as her destiny, she was given the name of Jadis.

The sisters were brought up according to the traditions of Charn's royal family. Both were proud and ruthless, true daughters of their empire. Both received training in the arts of war, for it was through combat that their nation survived and flourished.

From an early age, Aria enjoyed listening to the many tales told by bards at the court of her father. And when grown she studied the lore of many nations.

It was from her sister Jadis gained her love of knowledge, spent hours seeking to master the many lessons she was expected to learn.

The death of their parents left the sisters to rule together. United in their desire to restore the past glories of their nation, they set out to firmly establish their rule.

Felinda soon surrendered to their armies, as did Bramandin, a city known for its riches and its great center of learning."

It was at the sacking of Sorlois, Charn's greatest enemy, that the destinies of the two sisters took a different path. The battle had been long and bloody, neither side willing to surrender. And so they had fought on, until Charn's forces were victorious and the city about them lay in ruins.

As was the custom, the rulers were brought before the sisters to be executed. The task of beheading the king had fallen to Aria. A seasoned warrior, she prepared herself to do her duty, never suspecting the impact this single killing was to have upon her destiny.

Raising her sword, she spoke the ritual words.

"You have sought to bring about the downfall of Charn through your declaration of war. You stand before me now, your conqueror and equal in battle and blood. Have you nought to say before death claims you?"

The king remained silent; his gaze as he met the eyes of Charn's eldest princess was calm and steadfast. As the sword descended, he reached for a pendent hanging from the belt which had held his weapons. Aria saw him grasp it firmly, bestowing upon it a look of reverence akin to that a priest would give the image of his god.

Unlike Jadis, Aria did not glory in the taking of a life, choosing instead to view the killings as something done for the preservation of her kingdom. And so she chose to justify this execution, reasoning that as her people's ancient enemy, he deserved no less.

But she would never forget the quiet dignity with which he had confronted her fury, her conviction that she was in the right, for within her secret thoughts she could not deny the truth. They had lived by a similar code, one she had never confided to Jadis, that of respect for honour and justice. It was this realization which caused her to claim the pendent as a trophy of Charn's victory. A pendent which bore the engraving of a lion.

Curious and intelligent, she had often reflected upon the early history of her people, wondering what had brought their nation to a place where honour and justice were willingly sacrificed upon the altar of desire and power. The realization had come to her gradually, the knowledge that their empire had not always been thus, a place of brutality and betrayal. And within the core of her being, Aria resolved to seek out others who had similar thoughts, to attempt to restore to her nation a measure of its former honour and glory.

A warrior with the mind of a scholar, Aria had searched diligently through the hall of records upon her return to Charn. For no matter how hard she tried, she could not forget the courage and honour with which the monarchs of Sorlois had faced their deaths. Knowing that Jadis would ridicule such thoughts, she conducted her search in secret, desiring to know more of this lion her enemies looked upon as a god.

And at last, her efforts were rewarded. Amongst the stacks of ancient manuscripts, she had discovered a drawing identical to the one on the pendent she wore hidden beneath her robes. The writing beneath it was faded, a form of language long dead and forgotten by Charm's people. From the few decipherable words which had escaped the ravages of time and neglect, she learned that he was said to be the creator of all worlds, the highest king over all kings, and the friend of all who called upon his name.

It was then Aria, princess of Charn surrendered her life into the keeping of The Lion for eternity.

But she was not the only daughter of Charn seeking ancient knowledge. Since childhood, Jadis had always been aware of an ancient presence at the heart of her empire.

She had felt the first stirrings of awareness when attending her first execution. Beneath the fear of the victim had lain a syllable which no mortal tongue could utter, a sound born of torment and the knowledge that hope had forsaken their nation. Many more were to be sacrificed, before Jadis could accurately recall and speak this portion of the word within the secret places of her mind.

Yet she craved more of this darkness, desired to learn the remaining syllables no matter the cost. In that moment of realization, Jadis vowed that she would sacrifice all that remained of her humanity to achieve her goal.

Like her sister she also was a lover of knowledge, and so she had sought to discover the source of this power. At first she could discern nothing but whispers, echoes of a power and darkness she had long yearned to possess.

A chance remark by an old courtier had led her to the truth.

"There are many secrets known only to Your Highness's family. One more important than all others, if rumour is to be believed."

Just what this secret was, Jadis did not know, for the royal family were bound by sacred oath never to speak of it. Yet she knew through a deep conviction she could not explain, that she alone was destined to discover its power. And so she sought long and hard, knowing somehow that the secret she longed to possess lay not in ancient tomes, or the so called wisdom of her people's priests, but in the ability to discern the presence of darkness within its most violent acts.

Little by little, knowledge was revealed to her, through the tortured screams of Charn's condemned, the dark joy of battle, and the twisted desires of humanity, she drew ever closer to discovering her nation's most terrible secret. And when at last it lay within her grasp, she was utterly corrupted, seduced by the false promises of glory and domination it whispered to her soul. She allowed the darkness to consume her, body, mind and spirit. And the power that was the deplorable word rejoiced that at last it had found a worthy speaker.

Two wills, two visions for a nations future inevitably led to war. Each sister seeking to defeat the other through strength of support and the skill of their warriors. Some fought for the eldest, weary of the centuries of tyrannical rulers and bloody conquests. And in secret some looked to Sorloir's lion for hope.

Others fought for Jadis, drawn to the youngest princess's side through fear, loyalty, desperation to win her favour, or out of a need to serve another cause.

The battle raged for months, casualties mounted on both sides, until at last Jadis sent word to her sister that she would meet with her on the morrow, to discuss a way of ending this conflict.

Aria was no fool. Suspecting that treachery awaited her, she ordered her warriors to stand guard hidden near the place Jadis had chosen to meet. And in the deep hours of the night, she sought another's aid.

Carefully she drew out the pendent, a trophy of the victory at Sorlois, and directed a petition to the lion her enemies had held in such high regard.

"Great Lion of Sorlois, you who hold dominion over all worlds, hear me now. I know not whether you will grant me victory over Jadis on the morrow. But I ask that if I fall in the battle to come that you would receive me into your kingdom. Though my people have forgotten you, though my sister has scorned you, I will continue to hold fast to your mane. Guard me on the morrow, and give me the strength to endure."

And from afar, Jadis felt the echo of her sister's call for aid, sensed a power greater than anything she could ever hope to wield. She knew then, that there could be no other way to end this war. She would finally give voice to the darkness she had welcomed into her soul.

They met in the palace courtyard, a strange twist of fate having drawn them to the spot they had so often occupied in childhood. For a moment they stood as if turned to stone, each remembering the past, with its moments of great sorrow and fleeting joy.

Then, reverie broken, they became what their world had made them, two warriors determined to conquer, that their vision of Charn might flourish under her rule.

The eldest's face, lit by the blood red light of a dying sun, bore a look of mingled determination and grim purpose.

Jadis's expression was empty, bleak, a face so merciless and cruel that it did not seem human.

"I really should thank you sister," Mockery and triumph filled the voice of the youngest princess. "It was you after all who taught me to love learning, to never leave a task unfinished.

However, you have broken the laws of combat set forth by our ancestors, to not use magic against one of your own blood. According to ancient tradition, I also now have the right to use magic against you and your warriors. I now claim that right, Aria, eldest daughter of our father, blood kin to me and descendant of the house of Charn. Have you nought to say?"

Aria could not help but admire her sister's composure in the face of such a choice. She knew that beneath Jadis's formal declaration, lay a tightly controlled fury, awaiting a single spark to set ablaze her sister's notorious temper.

For a moment, the determination and trust she had placed in Sorlois's Great Lion faltered, overshadowed by doubt and fear of her sisters capabilities. But beneath it lay confusion. She had not resorted to magic in an attempt to help her cause. She knew the ancient laws of her people, and had struggled to keep them even knowing of Jadis's love for dark sorcery.

"Sister, I know not of what you speak. I used no magic during all our battles, as the law demands. Though many a time I've desired to use my power to aid my warriors, I have so far sought to honour our laws."

"You lie," Jadis's voice shook with suppressed rage. "I felt the power you called upon to aid you an hour before dawn."

"Sister, I was merely asking for strength and victory from the powers which govern our destinies. Surely that is permissible?"

"It is forbidden to seek aid from any power during war." Jadis replied with a look of utter triumph. "And as you have broken our law, I now call upon the hidden power of our house to aid me. Farewell, Aria."

Betrayal turned to shock, as the eldest understood what her sister intended. Words of protest were useless, for in that moment the fate of their nation had been decided.

And like the monarch of Sorlois, in the moment before her death Aria grasped her trophy of war, her symbol of hope, and her comfort for what waited ahead.

And Jadis spoke, her voice filled with a mixture of exaltation, passion, and a confident loving caress.

Released at last, it flowed out from the thoughts of its chosen speaker. Filled with the echoes of a thousand torments and twisted desires, the hunger for destruction, and the need to bring death it swept across Charn, leaving nothing but empty silence in its wake. Nothing remained of that great empire, all evidence of its inhabitants destroyed by its queen's lust for power and domination.

And amidst the ruins of her kingdom stood Jadis, a look of mingled triumph and satisfaction upon her proud countenance.

Turning away from the destruction she had wrought, the last ruler of Charn took her place in the hall of images, awaiting the hour when she would leave her own world to fulfill a dark and tortured destiny.

She would receive power and immortality, as the deplorable word had promised, until the day she would be defeated by four mortal children, and the sovereign will of The Lion in whose paws a sister had once chosen to place her destiny and unwavering faith.

Note from the authoress: I've enjoyed reading C S Lewis's works for ages, but never thought I'd be writing a piece based on one of his Narnia Chronicles. I'm not sure where this idea came from, but once I started wondering about Jadis's origins and her very mysterious sister, everything fell into place for this short story. I'd love to read any comments, and for those interested more of Let Me Know Your Face will be posted soon. I won't be able to update regularly due to university and other life responsibilities, but I will finish any story posted here eventually.


End file.
